BACK PAGE | PAGE 16 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 V2Retail ups its game in value fashion space BRANDWAGON | PAGE 11 Ten-minutefooddelivery maynotbeviable:Experts AHMEDABAD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2025 Amazon MXPlayer banks on ad-supported content FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XIX 212, 24 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E YOTTA DATA PLANS to cut its original quoted price by nearly 15% for supplying some models of graphics processing units (GPUs) under the IndiaAI mission, reports Jatin Grover. ■ PAGE 4 trust.The NHAI (15.48%) and SBI AMC (9.34%) are other major unitholders.In the coming round of acquisition of assets by NHIT, more equity investors are expected to join, the most prominent of them being the EPFO. Continued on Page 5 THE RISING DEMAND for skilled professionals in e-commerce and quick commerce is driving startups to establish and expand in-house training academies, reports S Shanthi. ■ PAGE 4 2023 3.5 2023 6.9 Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Apr-Jun -0.3 8.1 Jan-Mar 0.7 2024 3.5 -0.8 2.9 0.6 4.4 2.5 Continued on Page 15 8.3 Continued on Page 5 9.7 4.5 3.8 2.9 3 3 small players. Experts point to persistent inflation and urban slowdownfor FMCGgiantslagging behind small and regional brands in terms of growth rates in the Decemberquarter. -0.1 25,900 2.7 2024 Value growth= Volume growth+price growth; Source: NielsenIQ exceeding`5,000crore—grew 4.4%intermsofvolumeduring theperiod.Intermsofvalue,the giantssawagrowthrateof6.9% intheDecemberquarter,nearly double of what they had achievedintheSeptemberquarter(3.5%)butwaybelowthatof It’srainingdiscountsoncarsof2024 SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, February 9 UNABLE TO OFFLOAD a record number of cars manufactured in 2024 more than five weeks into the new year, automakers have stepped on the gas in terms of discounts and rewards to attract buyers beforethestocksturnintoaliability and jam the stockyards. The passenger vehicle industryis estimated to be carrying an inventory of around 600,000-650,000, almost SALES PITCH 33 55,000 73,100 33 Jan 2025 (`) 55,000 73,100 18 Units made in 2024; Source: Companies entirely made up of vehicles manufactured in 2024. With more than 400,000 units manufactured and sold in Jan- Feb 2025 36 250,000 270,000 Volkswagen Taigun BANKS ARE RELUCTANT to use the inter-bank call money market due to their reliance on the cheaper triparty repo (Treps) market for funding needs, reports Anupreksha Jain. ■ PAGE 6 1,524 8 Oct-Dec IndiaAI Mission: Startups expand Yotta to offer 15% training centres to discount on GPUs build workforce Total PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi/Davos, February 9 A$63-BILLION SAUDIArabian project in Diriyah — being billed as the ‘City of Earth’ — has piqued several Indian investors’ interest with the likes of theTata Group-backed Taj Hotel and Oberoi Hotel already checking in, project CEO Jerry Inzerillo said. The project, being built on the outskirts of Saudi Arabia’s capitalRiyadh, willhavehouses for 100,000 people and office spaceforafurther100,000plus. It will include over 40 luxury hotels,more than 1,000 shops, over 150 restaurants & cafes, a university, an opera house, a 20,000-seater multipurpose eventarena,agolfcourse,andan international equestrian and polo centre,among others. 8 14.2 Oct-Dec Banks prefer cheaper Treps to call market 15,700 889 4.5 Jul-Sep subscriptions from existing unitholders in proportion of their current holdings, the sources said, adding that the exact amount to be raised would depend on the book building process. CanadianfundsOntarioand CPP Investment Board Private Holdings hold 25% each in the 2023-24 SMALL FAST-MOVING CONSUMER goods (FMCG) companies,whose growth had slowed in the past few quarters as giants sought to counter them withregionalproductvariants, are now beginning to reassert their presence in the market. Data from research agency NielsenIQ shows the December quarter was marked by a sharp uptick in sales forsmall players. These firms saw 14.2% growth in terms ofvalue,the highest in five quarters. Their volume growth was also the highest in five quarters at 9.7%. Incontrast,FMCGleaders— those with an annual top line 1.3 Apr-Jun 2,850 246 THE NATIONAL HIGHWAYS Infrastructure Trust (NHIT), sponsored by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), is likely to raise over `20,000 crore from domestic and foreign investors over the next fewweeks for acquisition of 11 operational road assets. This will be the fourth and the largest fundraise round so far by the trust. The issuewill see participation of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)asanequityinvestorfor the first time, official sources said. Around `10,000 crore could be raised through issuance of fresh equity units, with a matching debt component. Of the equity amount, some part would come as new 0.4 (in %, annual top line above `5,000 cr) Volume Price -4.2 2022-23 7,350 0.5 FMCG giants Grand i10 MANIPUR CHIEF MINISTER N Biren Singh tendered his resignation on Sunday, hours after returning to Imphal from Delhi. The BJP-ruled Manipur has been engulfed in ethnic strife, which has claimed 250 lives, since May 2023. ■ PAGE 15 389 2021-22 VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, February 9 Value (in %, annual top line under `100 cr) Volume Price Tata Harrier and Safari 85,000 100,000 BJP’s N Biren Singh resigns as CM of strife-torn Manipur MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, February 9 Money raised so far through monetisation of road assets through National Highways Infrastructure Trust (NHIT) Length of highways Funds accrued (in km) to govt (` cr) Small players Jan-Mar AWHOPPING 97.53% of Religare shareholders rejected the reappointment of Rashmi Saluja as director in the company in an annual general meeting. E-voting for her reappointment, along with other resolutions, had started onWednesday. Saluja, who was supposed to retire by rotation, had offered herself for reappointment. equity investor in highway assets PATH TO PROGRESS slowdowneatinto salesofleaders $63-bnSaudi projectdraws Tata,Oberoi; moreinline THE SHOPPING BASKET -2.6 97% shareholders reject Saluja’s reappointment ● EPFO to debut as ● Inflation&urban -2.5 IN THE NEWS in biggest fundraise Oct-Dec A RED initiative appears in today’s edition of Financial Express. These pages are an initiative of the marketing solutions team of The Indian Express Group and contain content paid for by advertisers. These pages should be read as advertisement. Small players making a NHITtargets `20K cr big comeback in FMCG ISSUETO BE COMPLETED IN FY25 Celerio Alto AERO INDIA 2025 8 50,000 68,000 % chg 14 70,000 80,000 Scorpio N uary, the unsold inventory is the biggest ever carried into the newyear by the industry. Small cars of Maruti Suzuki suchastheAltoandtheCelerio, whose sale has been relatively muted, have seen discounts jump 33% to `73,100 in Februaryfrom`55,000inJanuary. The offer is for the vehicles madein2024.MarutiSuzukiis also struggling to sell its premium Invicto.The automaker has now added a scrappage bonustothebenefitithadbeen offering on the model since January,pushing the total benefit to over `200,000. Continued on Page 15 Ahmedabad